The presently disclosed subject matter relates generally to communicating data from a medical sensor to an electronic patient monitor and, more particularly, to communicating physiological measurements from data or instructions for obtaining physiological measurements from data to an electronic patient monitor.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Electronic patient monitors may be commonly used to monitor patient parameters such as ECG, pulse oximetry, blood pressure, and/or body temperature, among other things. Multi-parameter electronic patient monitors may be expensive electronic patient monitor units that display such patient parameters from a number of supported sensor types. To accommodate sensors from a variety of manufacturers, such monitors may be designed to employ a proprietary connector for each sensor type. The sensors may be attached to the monitor via the connector through a patient cable. The patient monitor may contain a dedicated circuit that acquires data from the sensor and may include a special module that specializes in the type of sensor. For example, a multi-parameter monitor may contain an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) module to determine physiological measurements from a raw measurement. By way of example, within a single electronic patient monitor, a first OEM module from a first manufacturer may receive a raw signal from a photoplethysmographic sensor, determining pulse rate and/or oxygen saturation based on the raw signal. A second OEM module from a different manufacturer may receive a raw signal from a blood pressure cuff, determining blood pressure based on the raw signal.
The OEM modules in a multi-parameter monitor may be very difficult to upgrade, as the monitor may be disassembled before the OEM module is replaced. Thus, it may be unlikely for major upgrades to a patient monitor to occur once the patient monitor has been delivered to a medical facility. Accordingly, new developments, such as improved algorithms for obtaining physiological measurements from sensor data, may not easily be included in existing patient monitors. While some upgrades involve only firmware changes, the difficulty in upgrading is especially relevant when hardware or connector changes are required. In practice, expensive monitors are seldom upgraded in the field. Typically, another device is placed next to the old monitor, resulting in cluttered hospital environments and multiple displays for the caregivers to read. It may also be difficult to base alarm decisions on multiple monitors since they typically do not communicate with each other